Tennessee property tax appeals
Review the sourced process overview below, then get the Tennessee DIY Appeal Kit with an evidence workbook, filing controls, official links, and an editable appeal letter in one PDF. No parcel-specific comps.
How a Tennessee appeal actually works
Every statement below is cited to its primary source and shows the date we verified it. Where we could not confirm something from a primary source, we say so instead of guessing. Dataset last re-verified 2026-08-13.
Missed the main deadline? Tennessee has 8 remedies most homeowners never hear about
County pages rarely surface these. Each one is a distinct legal route with its own clock.
Back assessment and reassessment
Any person aggrieved by a back assessment or reassessment may appeal DIRECTLY to the State Board of Equalization, bypassing the county board.
When:
primary source · verified
Correction of errors in assessment
The assessor shall correct an error in coding, entry, or transcription of data. The assessor may NOT revisit, as a correction of error, matters requiring application of the assessor's judgment — such as quality of fit or finish in a structure, the degree to which location or depreciation affects value, or the degree of comparability of a property to others in the relevant market. If the assessor fails or refuses to correct an error within thirty (30) days after being requested to do so, or if the correction results in an INCREASE in assessment, any person aggrieved may appeal directly to the State Board of Equalization. The SBOE lists 'appealing a correction made by or refused by the county assessor' among the recognized grounds for a direct appeal without first going to the county board.
When:
primary source · verified
Greenbelt — Agricultural, Forest and Open Space Land Act of 1976
Qualifying land is valued on present use rather than highest and best use. An owner must file an application with the assessor of property in the county where the property is located. Approved applications must be recorded with the register of deeds and the applicant pays the recording fee. Reapplication is not required unless ownership as of the January 1 assessment date changes. THREE DISTINCT APPEAL PATHS: (1) DENIAL of a timely filed application — appeal first to the County Board of Equalization, then to the State Board of Equalization (§§ 67-5-1005(d), 1006(d), 1007(c)); (2) ROLLBACK TAX liability — appealable ONLY directly to the State Board of Equalization (rollback taxes recapture taxes saved: three preceding years for agricultural and forest land, five preceding years for open space land; payable from the date written notice is sent by the assessor and delinquent March 1 of the following year); (3) USE VALUE — cannot be appealed to county boards at all; requires a petition of at least 10 owners of greenbelt property, or a petition of any organization representing 10 or more owners, filed with the State Board of Equalization. Acreage limit: no person (including partnerships, corporations, LLCs, trusts, or other legal entities) may place more than 3,000 acres under greenbelt within any one taxing jurisdiction.
When:
primary source · verified
Property tax exemption and tax relief determinations
Appeals to the State Board of Equalization from initial determinations in exemption and tax relief cases. Judicial review is NOT available as to exemptions requiring application to the State Board under Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 67, ch. 5, pt. 2 unless the petitioner has first obtained a ruling on the merits from the Board or an administrative judge sitting for the Board.
When:
primary source · verified
Reasonable-cause late appeal to the State Board of Equalization
A taxpayer who missed the appeal deadline has the right to a hearing and determination to show reasonable cause — meaning circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control — for the failure to file. Upon demonstrating reasonable cause, the Board SHALL accept the appeal. This also covers failure to first appeal to the county board of equalization, which the SBOE lists as a recognized ground for a direct appeal. The Board has NO jurisdiction to accept an appeal after the March 1 cutoff.
When:
primary source · verified
Direct appeal to the State Board for industrial and commercial property (assessor concurrence)
With the written consent of the assessor, a taxpayer or owner may appeal the valuation of INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL real and tangible personal property either to the local board of equalization or DIRECTLY to the State Board of Equalization. The taxpayer must request concurrence in writing via certified mail, return receipt requested, within ten (10) days after the date the assessment notice is sent, or by June 1 of the tax year, or such other date as the assessor may prescribe, but no later than the county board's regular annual session adjournment date. The request must state at minimum the name in which the property is assessed, the parcel identification number, the value sought, the basis for the appeal, and the requester's name, address, telephone number and fax number. The assessor must provide concurrence at least 10 days before county board adjournment. If the assessor does not concur and so states in writing at least 10 days before adjournment, the taxpayer must appeal first to the local board. If the assessor FAILS TO ACT at least 10 days before adjournment, the State Board SHALL accept the direct appeal. The filer must attach the assessor's concurrence — or, where the assessor failed to act timely, a copy of the written request plus a statement of the assessor's failure to respond.
When:
primary source · verified
Amendment of a pending appeal to cover subsequent tax years
To avoid duplicate appeals and repeat hearings on the same evidence, the State Board of Equalization permits consolidation and amendment of a REAL PROPERTY appeal to encompass subsequent tax years up through an entire reappraisal cycle.
Payment of undisputed taxes while appeal is pending (penalty protection)
Not an appeal remedy but a mandatory companion step. The taxpayer must pay at least the UNDISPUTED PORTION of taxes prior to the delinquency date to avoid penalties and interest, and must pay the full amount of any delinquent taxes due against the property for prior years — failure risks the usual penalty and interest plus possible delay or DISMISSAL of the appeal. The undisputed portion is calculated by subtracting the value the taxpayer claims in good faith to be fair market value from the assessor's value, and multiplying the result by the applicable tax rate. When a final certificate of assessment issues, the taxpayer owes any underpayment plus statutory interest. The interest rate applicable to taxes under appeal is the composite prime rate published by the Federal Reserve Board, minus two points. Any delinquency penalty and interest postponed during the appeal begins to accrue thirty (30) days after the decision becomes final. Post-appeal: refunds are to be issued within sixty (60) days of when the appeal closes; additional tax payments are due within thirty (30) days of when the appeal closes.
When:
primary source · verified
What evidence wins in Tennessee
Market value is the statutory basis of value (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-601(a)). Per the SBOE, 'the best evidence of value for residential property is generally sales of properties comparable to the property under appeal (comparable in features relevant to value).' Perfect comparability is not required, but relevant differences must be explained and accounted for by reasonable adjustments; a sale presented without an analysis of comparability may in the Administrative Judge's discretion be disregarded. An appraisal may be presented but is not required; if submitted, the appraiser may be required to testify (reports offered without the appraiser present for cross-examination are problematic). Settlement negotiations are inadmissible under Tenn. R. Evid. 408. IMPORTANT: comparable ASSESSMENTS are NOT admissible as evidence of market value — the Comptroller's Appeals Handbook states that 'the SBOE has issued countless decisions to the effect that assessors' appraisals of other taxpayers' properties are simply irrelevant to the issue of fair market value.' The property record card carries a presumption of correctness but loses probative value once the taxpayer makes a prima facie case. Tennessee's uniformity/equalization remedy operates through the appraisal ratio rather than assessment comparables: the SBOE takes the strict view, based on Laurel Hills Apartments (SBOE, Davidson County, Tax Years 1981-1982, Apr. 10, 1984), that equalization is achieved by determining the subject's market value and reducing it by the county's appraisal ratio for the tax year at issue ('Market Value Theory,' adopted over the competing 'Base Year Theory'). Separately, Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1509 directs that commercial and industrial tangible personal property assessments be equalized using the appraisal ratios adopted by the Board in each jurisdiction, provided the equalization factor does not exceed 1.000, and only for taxpayers who timely filed the required reporting schedule. The Comptroller publishes annual county Appraisal Ratios.
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
The appeal ladder, in Tennessee's own terms
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County Board of Equalization (in Davidson County, the Metropolitan Board of Equalization; a 'local board of equalization' under T.C.A. tit. 67, ch. 5, pt. 14)
Deadline: Varies by county. By statute the county board convenes its regular session June 1 each year and sits 'as necessity may require until the equalization has been completed,' but no longer than: 6 days (county population 10,000 or less), 10 days (over 10,000 and under 20,000), 15 days (over 20,000 and under 35,000), or a number of days fixed by the county legislative body not exceeding 30 days (over 35,000). The practical filing deadline is the board's adjournment date, which differs county to county. A county may hold an extended session, a special session, or set an alternate time by resolution or ordinance (e.g., Shelby County convenes May 1). The Tennessee Comptroller directs taxpayers to contact the county assessor of property for the current-year filing deadline. An assessment must generally be appealed to the county board or it becomes final.
Clock starts: Convening and adjournment of the county board of equalization's regular annual session (statutorily commencing June 1 unless the county has set an alternate date)
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-404 (sessions; maximum days by population); Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-5-1401 through 67-5-1415 (assessment review — county boards of equalization); grounds for complaint at Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1407; reappraisal notice/informal hearing rights at Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601(d) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Not confirmed from a primary source: Tennessee has no statewide county-board-of-equalization appeal form number or title. Forms are county-specific and were not individually verified beyond the Shelby County example URL (whose printed revision date was not confirmed because the PDF was identified only through a search result, not directly fetched and inspected). Check the official page before relying on this.Not confirmed from a primary source: No statewide statutory county-board filing fee was found, and no authority establishing that counties may charge one was confirmed. Shelby County states 'There is no fee charged for filing an appeal,' but that single-county statement was obtained via search result rather than direct page fetch and cannot be generalized to all 95 counties. Check the official page before relying on this. - 2
Tennessee State Board of Equalization (SBOE) — evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge of the Administrative Procedures Division, Tennessee Secretary of State
Deadline: Appeals to the State Board of Equalization from action of a local board of equalization must be filed on or before August 1 of the tax year, OR within forty-five (45) days of the date notice of the local board action was sent, WHICHEVER IS LATER. Three additional direct-appeal windows exist: (1) if notice of an assessment or classification change under § 67-5-508 was sent to the taxpayer's last known address later than 10 days before the local board adjourned, the taxpayer may appeal directly to the SBOE within 45 days after that notice was sent; (2) if no notice was sent, the taxpayer may appeal directly to the SBOE within 45 days after the tax billing date for the assessment (the Comptroller's Appeals Handbook notes the tax billing date is normally October 1); (3) a commercial/industrial taxpayer with the assessor's written consent may appeal directly to the SBOE, and all such direct appeals must be filed before August 1 of the tax year. Upon showing reasonable cause (circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control) for failure to file timely, the Board shall accept the appeal up to March 1 of the year subsequent to the year in which the time for appeal began to run; the Board has no jurisdiction to accept an appeal after that March 1 date.
Clock starts: The date notice of the county/local board of equalization's action was sent to the taxpayer (45-day relative window), measured against the fixed statutory backstop of August 1 of the tax year, whichever falls later
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1412(e) (August 1 / 45-day rule, direct-appeal windows, reasonable-cause extension to March 1); Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1412(b)(1) (exhaustion requirement); Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1412(b)(2) (commercial/industrial direct appeal with assessor's written consent, filed before August 1); Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1412(c) (format/electronic filing); Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1501(a)-(b) (jurisdiction) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Not confirmed from a primary source: Tennessee's SBOE has migrated to an online filing system; no numbered, downloadable PDF appeal form with a printed revision date was published on the SBOE 'Forms Approved by the State Board of Equalization' page or elsewhere on comptroller.tn.gov. Form number and revision date therefore could not be verified. Check the official page before relying on this.Fee: Not to exceed $10.00 per filing. 'Filing' means one submission that may include multiple parcels, including real and personal property, with a clear nexus to specific assessments or exemptions under appeal. No fee is charged on the appeal of the primary residence of (1) persons 65 years of age or older if the appraised value of the residence is $150,000 or less, and (2) indigent persons who file a Uniform Civil Affidavit of Indigency with the board. (cap)
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1501(d); implemented by SBOE Rule 0600-01-.17 (cited in the Comptroller's Appeals Handbook for Assessors of Property, Oct. 2023) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
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Members of the Tennessee State Board of Equalization — discretionary review of an Administrative Judge's Initial Decision and Order
Deadline: Appeals from initial decisions of administrative judges or hearing examiners for the State Board of Equalization must be filed within thirty (30) days from the date the initial decision is sent. Review by the members of the Board is DISCRETIONARY and not guaranteed — the Board may decline review entirely, or may modify, reverse, or adopt the Initial Decision and Order as its final decision. This step is NOT required before proceeding to chancery court. If no petition for review is filed, an Administrative Judge's Initial Decision and Order is typically final 30 days from the date of the signed order; orders of the State Board itself are typically final as of the date issued. Specific deadlines and instructions accompany the Initial Decision and Order issued by the Administrative Procedures Division.
Clock starts: The date the Administrative Judge's Initial Decision and Order is sent
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1501(c) (30 days from date initial decision is sent) · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Not confirmed from a primary source: No published form number, title, or revision date exists for a petition for Board review; the SBOE states instructions are transmitted with each individual Initial Decision and Order. Check the official page before relying on this.Not confirmed from a primary source: No source confirms whether a separate fee applies to a discretionary petition for review by the Board members, as distinct from the initial $10-cap appeal filing fee. Check the official page before relying on this. - 4
Tennessee Chancery Court (judicial review of final action of the State Board of Equalization)
Deadline: A taxpayer seeking judicial review of a final action of the State Board of Equalization must file a petition within sixty (60) days from when the order of the State Board of Equalization becomes final. Judicial review is a DE NOVO appeal with NO presumption of correctness of the decisions of the lower tribunals, consisting of a new hearing in chancery court based upon the administrative record plus any additional or supplemental evidence either party wishes to adduce. Judicial review is unavailable as to proper value, assessment, or classification (or as to exemptions requiring SBOE application) unless the petitioner has first obtained a ruling on the merits from the Board or an administrative judge sitting for the Board. Venue: the chancery court of the county where the disputed assessment was made, or the chancery court of Davidson, Washington, Knox, Hamilton, Madison or Shelby County, whichever is closest in mileage to the situs of the property; if situs is in Knox, Hamilton or Shelby County, the petitioner may alternatively elect Davidson County.
Clock starts: The date the order of the State Board of Equalization becomes final (per SBOE guidance, an Administrative Judge's Initial Decision and Order is typically final 30 days from the date of the signed order; orders of the Board itself are typically final as of the date issued)
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1511(a)-(b) (finality, exhaustion, de novo review, venue), as amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts ch. 184, § 10, eff. 7/1/2023. NOTE: the 60-day filing period is stated by the Tennessee State Board of Equalization on its official Value Appeals page; the precise statutory subsection fixing 60 days (the general UAPA judicial-review period appears at Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-322) was not separately verified in this research and should be confirmed before reliance. · primary source · verified 2026-08-12
Not confirmed from a primary source: No standardized statewide chancery court petition form for property tax judicial review was located on any official Tennessee source. Check the official page before relying on this.Not confirmed from a primary source: Chancery court civil filing fees are set by general statute and local clerk cost schedules that were not researched; no amount can be stated without fabrication. Check the official page before relying on this.
Who has to prove what
Preponderance of the evidence. Per the State Board of Equalization: 'In order to support a change to the assessment adopted by the County Board of Equalization, you must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, what the correct assessment of the property should be.'
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
When values are set
Tennessee counties reappraise on a 4-, 5-, or 6-YEAR cycle under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601(a)(1). (a) SIX-YEAR (statutory default): a continuous six-year cycle comprised of an on-site review or photo of each parcel of real property over a five-year period, followed by revaluation of all such property in the year following completion of the review period. (b) FOUR-YEAR: upon approval of the State Board of Equalization, a continuous four-year cycle comprised of on-site review or photo of each parcel over a three-year period, followed by revaluation in the year following. (c) FIVE-YEAR: if approved by the assessor AND adopted by a majority vote of the county legislative body, a continuous five-year cycle comprised of on-site review or photo of each parcel over a four-year period, followed by revaluation in the year following. MID-CYCLE UPDATE: in the third year of a six-year cycle there must be an updating of all real property values if the overall level of appraisal for the jurisdiction is less than 90% of fair market value; if the overall level is at or above 90%, any subclass not within 10% of the overall level must be updated to the overall level, and any group within a subclass not within 10% of that subclass's level must be updated to the subclass level. In counties on a four-year or five-year cycle there is NO updating or indexing of values. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601(a)(3) additionally allows the Board to approve a reappraisal plan with a continuous on-site/photo review schedule different from the standard but no longer than four (4) years, implemented in lieu of indexing; the Comptroller labels these 'A3' counties on its published Reappraisal Schedule. Photo review is permitted only in compliance with SBOE rules (§ 67-5-1601(a)(5)). NOTICE RIGHT: whenever classification or assessed value changes as a result of reappraisal, the owner is entitled to notice at least ten (10) calendar days before the local board of equalization commences its annual session, plus an opportunity to appear at an informal hearing, with written notice of any action taken at such hearings sent at least 10 days prior to county board adjournment (§ 67-5-1601(d)). ASSESSMENT DATE is January 1. NOTE ON COUNTY EXAMPLES: the Comptroller publishes a per-county reappraisal schedule (county, last reappraisal, next reappraisal, cycle length, A3 flag) at the source URL below, but the HTML table did not render in machine-readable form during this research, so NO specific county-to-cycle assignments are asserted here. Consult that page directly before publishing any county-specific cycle claim.
primary source · verified 2026-08-12
How counties differ
COUNTY BOARD DEADLINES VARY AND ARE THE SINGLE LARGEST SOURCE OF ERROR RISK IN TENNESSEE. There is no statewide county-board filing deadline. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-404(a) sets the regular session start at June 1, but § 67-1-404(b)(1) caps session length by population (6 / 10 / 15 / up to 30 days), and a county may hold an extended session, a special session, or set an alternate time by resolution or ordinance; the county mayor may extend the time or call a special session when the county legislative body cannot act. Metropolitan governments organized under Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 7, chs. 1-3 are covered by the same June 1 provision. A county board having jurisdiction over a municipality with a beginning tax due date different from the county's must meet at least one month prior to that municipality's beginning tax due date (§ 67-1-404(c)). The Comptroller instructs taxpayers to contact the county assessor of property for the current-year filing deadline. VERIFIED EXAMPLES: (1) SHELBY COUNTY (Memphis) — the Comptroller states the board meets each year on May 1 (or the next business day if the 1st falls on Saturday or Sunday) and meets as few as 30 days during an annual session; for tax year 2026 the Shelby County Board of Equalization accepts appeals May 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026, filed online at boe.shelbycountytn.gov/eFile (real property) or boe.shelbycountytn.gov/PPeFile (personal property) by midnight of the deadline, by mail postmarked by midnight of the deadline, or in person 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday at 1075 Mullins Station Road, Suite C-142, Memphis, TN 38134. (2) DAVIDSON COUNTY (Metro Nashville) — a two-stage local process: the ASSESSOR's informal review request deadline for the 2026 assessment year was 4:00 p.m., Friday, April 17, 2026, with informal review decisions mailed May 20, 2026; informal review is optional and is NOT a prerequisite to a formal appeal. Formal appeal scheduling with the independent Metropolitan Board of Equalization (MBOE) opened Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 8:00 a.m., and the deadline to SCHEDULE an appointment with the MBOE was 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 26, 2026 (call center 615-862-6059). Davidson County's operative deadline is a deadline to schedule a hearing appointment, not merely to file a paper. (3) KNOX COUNTY (Knoxville) — the Knox County Board of Equalization meets during the month of June; however, sources reviewed contained inconsistent statements about the interaction between the assessor's informal appeal results and the board's session in a reappraisal year, so the exact 2026 filing deadline is NOT verified and must be confirmed with the Knox County Property Assessor (865-215-2006). SEPARATELY, the SBOE-level deadline is uniform statewide (August 1 of the tax year or 45 days from the county board notice, whichever is later) and does NOT vary by county — but because the 45-day window runs from the date the county board's notice was sent, the effective SBOE deadline still shifts by county in practice. REAPPRAISAL CYCLES also vary by county (4, 5, or 6 years); the Comptroller's Reappraisal Schedule page is authoritative, but its table could not be parsed during this research, so no county-to-cycle assignments are asserted.
Tennessee appeal deadline
Deadlines varyTennessee deadlines are set locally.
The deadline is almost always printed on the assessment notice your local assessor mails you. Use that date, it is the one that counts.
Are you missing a Tennessee exemption?
Exemptions cut your bill before any appeal even starts, and most homeowners never claim all the ones they qualify for. Answer four questions:
Is your Tennessee home over-assessed?
The whole appeal hinges on one comparison: your assessed value (from your tax notice) versus your home's market value (what it would sell for today). Put both in:
How to find your home's real market value (free) →
- Pull free estimates. Look up your address on Zillow (“Zestimate”) and Redfin (“Redfin Estimate”). Average them, algorithms run high or low, so two beats one.
- Find 3-5 real comparable sales. Same neighborhood, similar size, beds/baths, age, and condition, sold in the last 6-12 months. Recent sales (not listings) are the strongest evidence a board will accept.
- Adjust for differences. Knock value off comps that are bigger or renovated; add for ones that are smaller or dated, so you're comparing like-for-like.
- Compare to your assessment. If your assessed value sits clearly above that adjusted market figure, you have grounds to appeal.
One catch: some states assess at a fraction of market value (an “assessment ratio”). If your notice shows a ratio or an “equalized” value, compare your implied full value to market, not the raw assessed number.
How property tax appeals generally work
Most states follow the same basic path: your local assessor mails an assessment notice with a value and a deadline; you file an appeal (often called a protest, grievance, or petition) before that deadline; you present comparable sales of similar homes; and a local board reviews the evidence and can lower your value.
The exact form, deadline, and board can vary by county. Use the current assessment notice and the official sources linked above to confirm the controlling local requirements. The paid kit organizes that verification, the evidence, the filing steps, and your editable letter in one place.
Want to see the depth we build per state? Take a look at our Texas, Florida, and Georgia guides.